WVU Did Not Shuffle the Offensive Line Once in Loss to Ohio, and That’s a Red Flag

West Virginia ran the ball 28 times for 72 yards against Ohio over the weekend, giving them an average of 2.6 yards per carry. That's not going to get the job done. The Bobcats totaled 23 pressures, 14 hurries, six sacks, and three QB hits on the day. 19 of those 23 pressures came from defensive linemen, meaning WVU's front was getting manhandled, and the Bobcats' defense didn't need to send players from the second and third levels to get home.

It was about as bad an offensive performance as you'll see. The closest thing that rivals it, in my opinion, was the bowl game against Utah back in 2017 when Chris Chugunov was filling in for the injured Will Grier.

The quarterback play from Nicco Marchiol was subpar, at best. Jaylen Henderson was also unable to provide that spark when he was inserted late in the third quarter. As I stated on Sunday, WVU has serious issues at QB. Why? The most prepared and consistent of the bunch doesn't have the ability to evade pressure, and the others who do have that ability are still learning where to go with the ball. It's a tough situation for Rich Rodriguez to be in.

It wouldn't be as problematic if the offensive line didn't play as poorly as it did, and for any quarterback to have success in this offense, it's going to take the big guys up front drastically improving. The most telling part of the state of the offensive line? Jack Bicknell Jr. left the same five guys out there for all 59 snaps, not rotating in a single backup. That should tell you all you need to know about the sixth, seventh, and eighth guys in that room. He's not comfortable playing them.

Coming into the season, you knew there would be some bumps along the way, especially up front. It's a group that doesn't have experience playing together, and for the most part, doesn't have much game experience, period. The more reps they get, the better the chemistry should become. However, it's a tough thing to balance because you want them to get more reps as a unit, but you also don't want to keep throwing the same five out there if they're not getting the job done.

These next few days of practice are massive for that group in particular.

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